Best Friends Forever
by Troublesome Dragon
Summary: Tired of Natalie's skepticism, Satan tries to prove they were best friends, only to find that some things can never be recaptured.


Best Friends Forever

He can't fault her for anything that's happened. No matter how preventable the situation was. No matter how easy the choice would have been to abandon him. Ultimately, she'd forfeited that right and given it to him, and he'd selfishly stayed. So, he can't abandon her now. No matter what she calls him. No matter how easy it would be to drop her off at home and never look back. She'd be grateful even. No, she was stuck with him for good.

They'd been camping in the woods for quite some time now. She was starting to look worse for wear, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He couldn't take her into town without her screaming her head off, and the small pack she'd brought with her included everything but a freaking extra pair of clothes. She refused to wear the dress, thinking him a pervert for even suggesting it. He'd kept his mouth shut about her stupid clothes after that, silently fretting like his brother Gabe would. Everything about him was wrong since the incident. What he wouldn't give to go back to not caring, his sudden influx of emotions was making him irrational and unpredictable. And, in turn, he'd been unsuccessful in convincing her he wasn't a kidnapper. Lucifer was certainly acting like one, even if he'd never admit it to her.

Satan didn't want to lose her, and that essentially meant keeping her away from the outside world. They'd short changed him, and he'd get her fixed if it was the last thing he did on this miserable planet. And yet, when she looked at him like the freaking monster he was, it still stabbed at his heart. The only thing keeping him from completely losing it was holding on to the vain hope that is it was temporary, a mistake, a calculated move meant to wring what little he had left to lose, a fluke. It had to be death's fault. There was no way Pestilence would risk losing her chance to get a hold of his precious wings. They were priceless.

Natalie was staring at him again. He watched her from the corner of his eye. It wasn't a fearful look. She was studying him, possibly wondering if he was distracted enough for an escape attempt to work. He casually chucked a tiny rock in her direction, hitting the tree behind her. She flinched and lost her nerve. Good, he didn't feel like running after her today.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it. Now, she was pouting, knees tucked in and cradled as if that would shield her from whatever _'the devil'_ wanted from her.

"Could you at least try to pretend I'm not a prisoner?" she asked. He scoffed at her. Could she at least try to pretend she didn't hate his guts?

"What would you suggest? I can't trust you not to make a scene in a public place. So, we're stuck out here until I think of a plan," Satan said, finally looking her in the eye. She'd suddenly become defiant, and that never ended well for him while she was in this state.

"I don't know. Treat me like a friend, maybe? You're so focused on keeping me in a constant state of terror that you're neglecting that part of your act," Natalie said, crossing her arms.

Satan scowled and punched the tree behind him before he said something he'd regret. It shuddered and thankfully did not fall. Better not to attract attention this deep in the woods, they needed to keep a low profile.

"It's not an act," he spit out. Natalie wasn't convinced. He sighed and ransacked her backpack.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Isn't that mine?" He grunted in confirmation.

Satan had been careful not to draw attention to it before now in case there was a cell phone or something useful hidden in its messy depths. At this point, he'd searched it while she slept and found nothing that he would mind her having. Right now, Satan was hunting for something specific. He wanted to prove a point.

"This is every best friend sticker you've ever given me," Satan said, holding up a booklet with the words **Best Friends Forever** written in glitter pen on the cover. She gave a little snort of contempt.

"Nice try dude, that's not a thing. Why would I even have that if they're your stickers?" Natalie said.

"I asked you to keep it for me, and you didn't realize I was being sarcastic," Satan said, satisfied when the smug smile left her face as she realized that was totally something she would do.

Flipping through the various pages, he found what he was looking for. Satan held up the booklet and pointed to the sticker in question that simply said, ' _ **you are enough**_ ' in large cursive script. He read what was written underneath.

"I know it's been a long time since someone has treated you like you matter, and it terrifies you that you can't scare me away, but I want you to know that you matter to me, and nothing you do will ever make me stop loving you. Your friend, Natalie," Satan said, unable to keep his voice from breaking as he realized the inherent lie in her forgotten words, a ghost of a Natalie that was no longer with him.

"How do I know you didn't do this yourself?" she asked. Satan tossed the book at her. He didn't want to look at it anymore. She frowned as she recognized her own hand writing.

"Do I look like I would go through the trouble of doing that?" Satan asked evenly.

"No, you're probably a lazy butt," Natalie muttered, shutting the notebook.

She bit her lip, and whispered a question she was afraid to receive the answer to, "You really do care what I think of you, don't you?"

He was quiet for a moment. Was it even worth telling the truth? This Natalie would just twist his words into something ugly and monstrous. "No, you're not the same. So why should I-" she cut him off.

"Don't lie to me. You're not good at it," Natalie said. It was the most insulting thing she'd ever said to him. His eyes flashed gold in anger, betraying his inner turmoil.

"What? I'm the king of lies. How dare you-" Satan started to say, desperately trying to keep some semblance of dignity in front of the girl that meant the world to him.

"Not in front of me your not," Natalie said, seeing right through him. He sighed and tossed her the backpack.

"Here, I'm sick of carrying it for you," Satan said, expecting her to be indignant and catty about it.

"Thank you," Natalie said quietly, hugging the backpack to her chest like a lifeline.

"Don't mention it," Satan said, suddenly uncomfortable. The last thing she wanted was to give her Stockholm syndrome like he was a freaking kidnapper. It was her damn backpack. Of course, he was going to return it.

She started rummaging through the thing until she found what she was looking for. She held up several sheets of unused stickers triumphantly before looking through them thoughtfully.

"What are you doing?" he asked, knowing perfectly well what she was doing. He wasn't sure he wanted Natalie's cute sticker book tarnished by whatever this stranger would write.

Picking one of the large fancy stickers, she held it secretively, shielding the stupid thing from his prying eyes. Getting the hint, he looked away, still perfectly capable of watching her out of the corner of his eye. Natalie opened the notebook and found a fresh page. She peeled the sticker off and expertly placed the sticker down without leaving any creases. The large block letters were easy enough to read even as he pretended not to look. The message wasn't mean spirited, but it left him feeling lukewarm as he dissected her intentions. **'** _ **You do not exist to please someone else. You exist for your own sake**_ **.'** She pitied him.

Natalie stared at the blank page concentrating hard as she tapped her pen against the notebook. Turning to face her, he leaned over, curious what she would write. She shooed him away with her hands, blushing. He raised an eyebrow. That was new.

"I can't write something with you looking. It's too much pressure," she explained.

Humoring her, he reluctantly averted his eyes. Satan was familiar enough with the sound of her footsteps hitting the forest floor to know if she tried to use the opportunity to run off again. He heard several hasty pen scratches as she finished her own addition to the notebook. She stood up and walked over to him, tapping him on the shoulder gingerly as if he might bite her fingers off if she made any sudden movements. As tempting as the joke was, he wasn't stupid enough to tease her right now. He turned around and faced her. She shyly handed him the notebook. Satan took it gladly, strangely hopeful.

As he read the new passage, he found his eyes watering, and his felt the knot in his chest tighten.

 _I don't know you. I want to go home, and you've thwarted my every effort to escape. And, yeah, at first, I thought you had evil intentions, but it's clear to me now that you're a sad lonely creature. Maybe, at some point, I cared for you, but that person doesn't exist anymore. I can't love you. I'm sorry. Please set me free. The only person that can fill that empty void in you heart is yourself._

He ripped the page out and crumpled it as she watched, slightly panicked. He was done being patient. Shoving the notebook into her bag, he handed it to her roughly and marched back towards the city. Natalie followed him, aware that if she didn't he would carry her like a sack of potatoes.

"Where are we going?" she asked, struggling to keep up. He wasn't in the mood to slow down.

"We're going too see a dead man," Satan said, not bothering to elaborate. Let her sweat it out for a little while. It would only be a fraction of the pain and confusion she'd caused him in the last few days. Satan was getting the Natalie back that thought he was enough, dammit. He was done trying to please this one.


End file.
